"A GRIM LOOK INTO A FUTURE THAT'S ALREADY HERE"

Today comes a review of COKROACH from the O.C. Register's own Eric Marchese, Orange County's long-suffering theater critic and ragtime enthusiast (no relevance here, we just enjoy mentioning it):

[An] utter hopelessness is the most keenly tangible element of Cockroach, permeating its every scene while creating a bleak alternative reality of our own recent history. The script uses bursts of action, language and violence to tell its story, and director Christopher Basile’s staging accurately captures the noise, confusion, tension and chaos of a rowdy high-school classroom.

Tickets for this weekend's performance remain available for purchase online or by calling 1-800-838-3006. $21 general admission, $11 for students of Post-Orwellian British high schools and fine upstanding learning institutions of the United States alike.

--O.C. Register

WRINGING GOLD FROM THE PAGES OF A SCRIPT

O.C. Weekly's patron saint of local storefront theater Joel Beers took in COCKROACH last weekend, and as always he does, turned in a finely-observed review of the piece:

The Monkey Wrench Collective, which is producing the U.S. premiere of Cockroach, has mined yet another diamond in [playwright Sam] Holcroft. The small theater has done a yeoman's job at finding work by young, U.K. playwrights that are edgy and uncompromising in terms of politics and tone. Though not quite as jaw-dropping and assaulting as some of the work done by other Monkey Wrench favorites, such as Mark Ravenhill or Sarah Kane, Holcroft's voice is equally blistering and distinctive. She's a young, British playwright who, based on the deceptively dense waters she navigates in this play, already possesses a talent that any writer of any age would long for: the ability to say as much between her lines as her characters say in them.

Infected as we have been by the uncouth ways of the fictional characters who regularly traipse our stage, we find our baser instincts getting the better of us, compelling us through flooded hormonal pathways to remind you that tickets for the show remain available at the scant cost of but $21 for general admission, and $11 for students who seek a break from the cleaning of blood-caked boots. Those of you whose fear of the internet is not so severe as to prevent you from reading local theater blogs, but which remains enough of a fixture in your life as to scuttle any dream you might have had of utilizing an online order form, may also obtain tickets via the quaint old-timey ritual of dialing 1-800-838-3006 and entrusting your credit card information to the ear of an actual human being. The choice, as ever it is, remains yours alone.

--O.C. Weekly

"MORE THAN THAT YOU DON'T NEED TO KNOW"

Jordan Young, of the endearingly awkwardly named LA/OC Arts Examiner, saw last weekend's performance of the U.S. Premiere of COCKROACH by Sam Holcroft, and was good enough to write up his thoughts on the play in pleasingly easy-to-quote form:

Director Christopher Basile has tackled the play as though he were staging an opera or a ballet, resulting in a riveting, visceral piece of theatre that will have you riding the edge of your chair. His six-member cast turns in some of the best ensemble work you’re likely to see all year, a half dozen finely crafted performances.

As online guardians of the Monkey Wrench name, we remain honor-bound to remind you that performances of COCKROACH continue this weekend for the bargain-basement price of $21 for general admission, $11 for students. Tickets are available here, or by calling 1-800-838-3006.

--LA/OC Arts Examiner